Water Hidden by Fire
by Asuna Beifong
Summary: Instead of her Mother being killed Katara is dragged to the Fire Nation as the last Waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe. What is her story with Zuko now? Read to find out.
1. The Southern Raiders

Chapter 1

The Southern Raiders

Snow crunched beneath the man's red pointed shoes. He sneered, only one waterbender left in this miserable hovel of a tribe, the snow walls of the huts literally leaned on each other for support. He and his men marched into the cold town, families shrunk into their homes, he entered the last one on the pitiful street. A woman sat on an animal skin rug with a small girl in her lap.

"Katara, go find your brother." the olive skinned woman said to the child, nudging the girl toward the door. The child turned toward her mother,

"I'm scared." her high voice shook,

"Don't be, sweetie. It'll be alright, go find your brother now, okay?" The girl nodded, the action shifting her thick blue coat, and she left.

"There's been rumors of a waterbender in this tribe, who is it?" The raider's voice cut through the cold air with dry boredom.

"If I tell you, will you leave us?" The woman's voice shook slightly, but the determination was clear, the raider nodded,

"It's me. Take me as your prisoner."

"NOO!" Katara's scream was emphasized by the whip of water that struck the back of the man's head. He looked at the tiny child, a cruel grin twisted his thin mouth. One of his men picked up the dark-haired waterbender, he turned toward Katara's mother still smiling,

"I think I'll let you live with this." She shook her head, tears streaming down her face,

"KATARA!" Fire nation soldiers held the struggling woman back as another carried the screaming child away.

"Katara is her name? Very nice, thank you." He turned and strode away, leaving the weeping woman on her knees in the center of the cold town, her futile attempts of following him blocked by the ring of fire now surrounding the town. His smile didn't falter as he boarded his ship and sailed toward the fire nation.

The Southern Raiders were one of the toughest group of hunters in the Fire Nation. They were always the ones picked for finding items that were lost, looking for a runaway or a traitor, or hunting down something that was rare. Usually the Southern Raiders didn't show mercy, although today was different. The order was to bring the prisoner back alive. This was turning out to be a pain in the but for the Captain of the Southern Raiders though. The girl was making a racket down below deck, and the whole crew was starting to complain about it and they were only only seven days into their twenty-one day trip back to the Fire Nation.

The General Zhou himself was getting a bit tense with all of this wailing and whining.

"Can someone at least try and shut that brat up!" He yelled across the deck at his crew. Zhou was not part of the Southern Raiders, he was just hand picked for the mission by Fire Lord Azulon himself. The steel ship cut through the cresting waves toward its harbor.

Katara had stopped her crying, she was sitting in the center of her cold cell. She could feel the thumping of the waves through the metal, the pulsing life of the writhing ocean just out of reach. Her thoughts drifted toward the future, or what may be left of it, her mother, her brother, her father. Homesickness opened a gaping hole in her chest, but she had no tears to spare. When the boat finally came to a shuddering stop in the harbor of the Fire Nation the massive men in dark red armor came and she shrank into the corner, whimpering. One of them picked her up and another tear spilled from her big blue eyes. General Zhou looked at her in disdain, she was indeed the brat who had ripped through the peace of his mission.

He met up with General Ihro on the dock, the other general had suffered a major defeat, and it was clear on his face. Ba Sing Se had been a prize goal of the Fire Nation for years, and to come up short. Well, it was safe to say that Fire Lord Azulon would be displeased. However, the loss of the General's son being the cause of defeat, Azulon would either take pity on his son, or be even more enraged at the loss of his grandson and the city.

"Ihro."

"Zhou." Even in the face of defeat, Ihro's voice was gentle and wise. Zhou knew that if he asked any questions it might end up in an Agni Kai so he decided against it and went straight to the point.

"We have successfully captured the last Waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe, she will bite if you get to close so please keep clear." Zaou had known that The girl Katara would bite because on the first day of the trip he had gotten too close to the girl while bragging about how she was captured and Katara got loose and bit him, hard. Zhou flinched at the memory then followed Ihro to go meet the girl on deck.

Katara glared up with the most fierce look she could muster at the first son of the Fire Lord, but the man only looked down at her with pity. This confused Katara. She was never looked at with this expression before' even when after her brother buried her in snow and almost left her all night and when her mother looked down at her. Katara's mother didn't wear this expression. The little Water Bender's fierce expression loosened as she looked back at the man with the sad expression. As she was listening to the conversation between Zhou and Ihro, the first son of the Fire Lord glanced back at her and caught her staring at him He gave Katara a big smile. At that moment Katara knew that her time here wouldn't be as bad because she had that man looking after her


	2. The Fire Lord's palace

Chapter 2

The Fire Lord's Palace

Ihro knelt in front of the wall of flames that separated him from his father,

"Yes, Lord?"

"I understand your grief and hurt because of the loss of your son.", The Fire Lord said. Ihro had already heard this from his father but said nothing. Changing the subject the Fire Lord moved on, "I see that Zhou was successful in capturing the last Waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe."

"He was, Lord" Ihro responded trying to keep his sadness to himself.

"Good, I am making the Waterbender your responsibility. You will raise her and teach her and maybe someday she will become a Fire Nation soldier, Understood?"

"Understood, Lord." Ihro said now happy that the Fire Lord had placed the girl in his care.

"Also if she shows even one sign of betrayal of our nation… Get rid of her." This made Ihro's heart sink a bit but he was determined.

"Understood, Lord."

"Wonderful, Now on your way out send your brother in. He has asked to meet me."

"Yes, Thank you, Lord.", Ihro sighed while getting up and turning to leave. On Ihro's way out he spotted his Brother Ozai, Ozai's wife Ursa, and his two nephews Zuko, and Azula. Ihro stopped in front of Ozai saying in his gentle wise voice, "The Fire Lord will see you now.", Ozai bowed and lightly stepped in, not saying a word to his brother. Ursa followed Ozai giving Ihro a look of sympathy and so he bowed slightly to her in return. Following Ursa were Zuko and Azula who was last. Zuko beamed up at Ihro as Ihro patted his head. Azula wouldn't even look at Ihro. She was ashamed that her powerful uncle would lose even if he had lost a son. So Ihro ignored her and waited until the gates to the Fire Lord's room had closed before leaving to go see the little Waterbender.

Ihro stepped into the dimly lit red chamber, the small waterbender was sitting in the corner, he knelt down and smiled at the girl, whose eyes widened. He quietly asked,

"What's your name?" She shook and whispered back,

"Katara."

"Well, Katara, my name is Ihro and I will be looking after you." Katara relaxed, this man was kind, she could see it in his eyes. Ihro was calm and slightly sad, to tear such a young child from her home and family was such a crime. At least he had a hope of protecting her. He was determined to teach her to master her skill, and still be faithful enough to deflect any suspicion or harm.

Katara was raised with enough love to allow loyalty and enough discipline to not get in trouble with anyone but Ihro. At the age of ten, it was her job to deliver foods to the various nobility of the fire nation while they stayed at the lavish red palace.

One day, she was carrying a tray of tea that was just barely too heavy for her young arms, she stumbled and collapsed to her knees and the tea washed down the polished wood floor. Thinking she was alone, Katara used her bending ability to ease the tea back into the pot. Ihro was teaching her how to bend, though fire and water were natural opposites to a true master it was a matter of control. Katara felt the sweet pleasure of her bending, she paused for a moment to savor the fluid grace, then she hefted the tray once more and proceded through the maze of halls, unaware of the young Fire Nation prince watching her.

Zuko reeled back from his corner hiding place, he had only learned about the waterbenders through his tutors in the palace. He had never imagined that someone that was so different could be so similar. As the young prince turned to go to the courtyard, he ran into his uncle, a rush of affection filled the prince, his uncle smiled down,

"That is Katara" The 12 year old tilted his head, looking at where the girl left, eyebrows furrowed in confusion fascination. Ihro looked down at his nephew and wondered what may happen next. His gaze followed the sway of Zuko's ponytail as he left to the courtyard, where Mai Tai-Lee and Azula were, he was that bored.

When Mai saw Zuko round the corner, her heart did a little backflip, Tai-lee smiled at Zuko who looked sullen. Azula smiled maliciously at her brother, a spark flashing in her amber eyes.

A few weeks passed before Zuko saw Katara again, it was when his Uncle told him he could come with to meet Katara. Zuko didn't know if he should be excited or nervous. She was an outsider, but she was being raised by his uncle, so he wasn't sure what to think. When he stepped into the dim room behind his uncle, Zuko took a steadying breath. Katara looked up, smiling at Ihro's shining face happy to see him again. Ihro was the only thing Katara thought was special in the Fire Nation. Katara rose from what she was doing to greet Ihro at her doorway. The girl suddenly stopped once she noticed Zuko standing behind Ihro. The sight of Zuko scared her, she had seen him a few times around the palace but they had never spoken so seeing someone other that Ihro in her room was strange.

Katara politely bowed to the small boy and proceeded to grab Ihro's sleeve dragging him to show him what she had been working on.

"I decided to make a scroll on all the waterbending moves I've been able to perfect!" Katara declared excitedly.

"I think it's wonderful!" Ihro laughed happily. Zuko didn't know what to do so he was pretending to do something at the front of the room awkwardly, Ihro noticing this waved him over to also see Katara's messy drawings.

"I know they are kind of messy but they're not as bad as my brother's…" Katara's speech faded into silence at the memory of her old family.

Zuko not wanting Katara and his first meeting to be like this quickly changed the subject, "Uncle you told me we would be having tea and a lovely conversation. Should I go grab the tea?" Ihro smiled at Zuko knowing exactly what he was doing laughed and told them he would grab the tea as long as Zuko heated the water. Zuko grabbed the kettle that had been stashed on the top shelf of a book stand that was in the corner of the room. Surprisingly it was already full of water. Katara watched as Zuko firebent under the kettle to heat the water. Zuko felt strange being in another girl's room other than his sister's. Once the water was boiled Zuko gently placed it on the small table in the middle of the room being careful not to spill any which turned out to be a failure. Just as the pot was carefully placed Zuko accidentally bumped the kettle burning his arm. He jumped back startling Katara as she quickly stood up.

"Are you ok?" Katara questioned as she ran to Zuko's side.

"Yeah, Yeah it's just a little burn." Zuko lied while internally screaming. "It's fine!" he said a soft look on his face smiling he gazed at her.

"No it's not!" Katara shouted which startled Zuko. The girl rushed over to her bed grabbing her water pouch off the small bed.

"No! really I'm ok! it won't kill me." Zuko started saying as Katara grabbed his arm.

"Don't say that." The girl sternly lectured, "One day you might be dying and you'll say 'I'm fine' and won't let anyone help you then you'll die a sad and lonely life with no friends." Zuko couldn't come up with a comeback to this so he let her do what she wanted to do. Seeing Zuko wouldn't say anything more she continued on what she was doing in the first place. Gently, Katara rose the water out of the pouch it had been in. The water the way she bent it looked like a thrilled snake that had just been released by a small child. Slowly she bent the water onto Zuko's burn causing him to flinch but still he didn't pull back. He couldn't pull back anyway, Katara was holding his arm so tightly it was causing more harm that the burn was. Katara started on her healing technique as Zuko stared in wonder. Once Katara looked up at Zuko hoping he was impressed he immediately changed his look to a moderate look and acted unimpressed. Seeing this Katara pouted and finished healing the burn.

Ihro still hadn't returned by the time Katara had put away her bending water so they both got bored. Zuko tried for conversation,

"So Katara, huh?" The girl tilted her head and nodded, Zuko noticed how expressive her eyes were, and a pretty gemlike blue, he looked down, embarrassed. Katara narrowed her eyes at the Fire Nation prince, he was just a person she decided, a very nice looking person. The thought trailed off and she mentally slapped herself as Ihro arrived.

After that first meeting, Zuko came back weekly, then daily, they became good friends, despite the walls of element difference. They enjoyed each others' company, it was simple as that. However on the year Zuko turned thirteen, he messed up. In challenging the firelord's plan he was forced to duel his father, and he lost. He was banished, forced to find the avatar to regain his honor. Zuko stood in the entryway, looking at Katara. She was shorter than him, and her eyes glittered with unshed tears, she reached out a hand and brushed the burn that she had been forbidden to heal. Zuko moved his head slightly into her hand and her lips quirked in a ghost of the smile that made Zuko's heart lurch,

"I'm sorry." Zuko almost flinched, her voice was so gentle it hurt,

"I'll come back." Katara nodded, although she was unconvinced. Tears spilled from her eyes and Zuko wiped one off her cheek as Katara reached back and undid her necklace. It was the one memento of her old home and life, what had been stolen and what she missed, she handed it to the Fire Nation prince,

"Write." was the one word she said as the delicately carved necklace was enclosed by Zuko's gentle hand. He nodded and looked at the waterbender and felt his entire being explode into hopeless yearning,

"I Promise." That was when he turned and walked toward his ship where his uncle was waiting, he looked back to see Katara glowing in the crimson sunset. As his ship left the harbor, he looked down at her necklace and gingerly placed it in a soft red satchel, and hung it over his heart.


	3. The Letters

Chapter 3

the letters

 _Zuko,_

 _Thank you for your last letter, although it was unsuccessful I imagine that the Western Air Temple was stunning, I only wish you'd found him. I wish you would come back soon, but I'm pretty sure you want to be home as well. Not much has happened, besides Azula becoming (if possible) more full of herself, she figured out how to bend lightning... I watched her practicing, it was terrifying. Tell Ihro hello, and I miss him too._

 _Katara_

 **Katara,**

 **You're right, I miss home and the Air Temple was beautiful. Nobody has heard anything on the avatar, and I'm worried I might never find him. I'm sorry about Azula, but there isn't really much I can do about her, thanks for the heads-up though. I miss you, Uncle does too.**

 **Wish you were here,**

 **Zuko**

 _Dear Zuko,_

 _I wish I was there too, but we both know why I can't be. I really miss you too, and I know not much can be done about Azula. I hope you get something soon, really soon._

 _Miss You,_

 _Katara_

The letters kept them connected, the messenger hawks not being very fast, they were always incredibly eager for any response. However, as the year passed, someone else found out about them. Mai had always nursed a secret soft spot for Zuko, and when she saw the messenger hawk swooping into the Water Tribe girl's room from the courtyard, she was suspicious. Thankfully, Katara wasn't in her room when Mai slipped inside and read the letters the other girl kept in a box, she grew greener and greener with each line, "'With love, Zuko?' 'With love, Katara?'" This water tribe peasant was actually, Speaking with, toying with Zuko. Well. Mai stood straighter and methodically tore up each letter, completely shredding every symbol. She stood, and carried out her newly formed plan to get rid of Miss "With Love", her rival. The words from the newest letter still swimming through her mind,

 **I miss you so much it actually hurts, And that sounds stupid**... _Not really, I think I miss you more_... **Really?**.. _.You should be focusing on coming back.._. **What if all I can think about is you?**... _I understand, I miss you that much too, maybe even more. I want to find you._. **.I wish you were here**... _With love_ , **Zuko.**


	4. Banished

Chapter 4

Banished

The words still echoed in my ears, I was to leave and never come back. I would never be able to see Zuko's return. Maybe never see him again. And there was the image of Mai's face, a slight smug smile hanging on her pale face. Now I was to be abandoned outside the Fire Nation borders, on the coast of northern Earth Kingdom. Alone.

This was probably the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to me… well other than being captured by the Fire Nation of course. However I should be careful going through the Earth Kingdom because anyone and everyone who is not of the Fire Nation feared it. Although with these clothes I might be attacked anywhere so I must be careful. And maybe if I search far enough I could possibly run into Zuko! With I gave a little giggle. the thought of seeing Zuko again after a year made me really happy and gave me enough courage to keep on going.

"Take that Mai! Ba Bam! Look who's gonna see Zuko first! You can go ahead and marry Tai-lee!" knowing that I was in the middle of nowhere I yelled this as loud as I could. Catching my breath I ran my fingers through my hair. The bun on the back of my head held the weight of a small hair crown that fit perfectly on the bun on the back of my head. The rest of my hair I kept down. Now that I think about it, Ihro told me that usually when someone is making a promise or changing the way they do something and maybe sometimes when they are leaving something behind they cut their hair in promise they will keep that change until the promise is fulfilled or to show they'll never be that way again. I decided since I was leaving the Fire Nation behind I would cut my hair to show I would never go back to the way everyone there wanted me to be I will show that I am not some Fire Nation puppet. I'll show them all. I took the small knife that I was given for means of protection when I left the Fire Nation. I slowly slid the small hair crown off of my hair bun letting that small clump of hair flow free with the cool Earth Kingdom breeze. Although that was short lived as a moment later I gathered it all up and used my knife to cut my once long wavy locks making my hair short and easy to manage. The breeze turned into a gust of wind. I buried my old lushus hair in the ground not knowing where else to put it. My hair was short now and giving how much I cut it I had bangs and hair much shorter than I thought it would be.

While I was marveling over my hair I thought to be safe from any Fire Nation guards I could dress as a boy. Then another thought occurred to me "Would Zuko not remember me?" this thought haunted me but moments later I shook it off. About a year and a half ago Azula decided I would be her "doll" for the day. And knowing Azula this was not good. All of her dolls always "Mysteriously" disappeared. Although both Zuko and I knew that she had used her new bending skills on them but we kept that to ourselves. One day we had gone to the training grounds to practice our bending with each other. Today Ihro couldn't come with us so we decided to practice with each other. Once we reached the training grounds we saw Azula and immediately Zuko turned around to head back. I stopped him grabbing the back of his bright red clothes. He had turned back to me his look saying _She will murder you in your sleep if you walk in on her_ but I decided to ignore his look and I pointed at what she was doing. Confused he tiptoed so he could see what I was pointing at. Azula had tied her new doll from uncle Ihro to a pole and was in a bending stance. In moments she shot her hand forward letting a ball of blue flame fly through the air only to quickly melt the once nice little doll. I slightly shivered at the memory. But when I would be Azula's doll I had no choice or Azula would find a way to make me her doll. Not having a choice I was made to be dressed up as Azula's personal mannequin. She dressed me in a corset so tight I could barely breathe, put me in an Earth Kingdom dress, and applied so much makeup it felt like I had gained ten pounds on my face. To sum it all up she dressed me up so much, I was unrecognizable. She called Zuko in minutes later to see her good work. I was surprised to see how well of a job Azula did on the makeup, it wasn't like her at all. When Zuko walked through the door, he slightly frowned trying to see who I was. No less than a second later he immediately blushed and told Azula to get me out of the ridiculous thing.

The next day when he came to visit me and laughed at the black marks around my eyes that were left over from the eyeliner from the day before. But then he patted my head and said something that shocked me.

"I'll recognize you in anything you wear."

This is what had stuck with me. So even if I dress up as a boy to keep safe he'll still recognize me right? So to keep safe from the Fire Nation I will dress up as a boy.

I sighed in relief finally getting over the mental argument with myself. Then another thought came to me.

"Where will I get the clothes to do this" I weighed my options. First of all I could make some of my own or I could steal the defenseless clothes hanging on wires in that little Earth Kingdom man's yard. After considering all the outcomes I decided that I was too lazy to make my own clothes so I decided to take the clothes from that man's back yard.

Katara looked at herself in the glistening water. Her outfit was a short sleeved shirt that reached around the front making a small golden square pattern near the left shoulder. The bottom was the rest of the shirt tied with a belt and same baggy bants with brown Earth Kingdom boots. Although hats were in style, Katara didn't have time to grab one from the man's laundry so she just had to go as she was. Katara

looked like a boy but at the moment she was working on sounding like a boy. Katara had been practicing like this for two hours now and she was starting to get the hang of it. At first she tried to base her manly voice off of Zuko's but then she realized that his voice wasn't so manly, or boyish at that. Katara was feeling confident in her boyish voice now.

Last Katara heard from Zuko he told her that he was heading towards the Southern Air Temple. If Katara wanted to catch up to him she had to travel quickly. The quickest way to the Southern Air temple was to travel through Ba Sing se.

"It shouldn't be that hard." Katara whispered out loud to herself. "Could it?"


	5. Megflake

Hi everyone! Thank you for reading this far! Please read this next part! So I am a proud supporter of Megflake this is a ship my friend group ships. We are trying to make this ship worldwide. So I have created a blog on Tumblr for this ship. If you would please follow the blog and tell your friends about it! Thank you! Oh and if you don't follow the blog I won't post the newest chapter for 3 months keep that in mind! This was not a threat sorry if it sounds like one! Thank you for the follows on the Megflake blog!


	6. There is no war in Ba Sing Se

Chapter 5

There Is No War In Ba Sing Se

The moment Katara entered the inner ring of Ba Sing Se she felt nervous. Nervous as if all the eyes of the guards were on her. Katara tried to ignore it but the way they were staring at her was not in a predator and prey way, but in a way too friendly way. They stared at her as if she was a queen and smiled wholeheartedly. Katara thought she felt this way because everyone in the Fire Natacion just scowled at you if you even looked at them. Maybe the Earth Kingdom was just full of nice people like that.

Katara made her best effort to smile back to everyone who smiled at her. At one time by accident Katara ran into a small girl who fell over right after being bumped into. Quickly Katara shot up and apologized sincerely to the small girl who seemed to be about close to two years younger than her. The small girl was up quicker than Katara and immediately started shouting at the man who was accompanying her.

"Master Yu! I am perfectly fine! Stop fussing so much you worry wuss!"

"Mistress Toph you're blind! I told you to hold onto me for balance and direction!" Hearing that the small girl, whose name was supposedly Toph, was blind made Katara even more guilty.

"I said I'm fine you worry wuss! The only thing I hate more than being locked up in my house is being walked around by you!" The man now looked very offended, "And it's your fault for leading me straight into that girl!"

"Mistress Toph! be more polite to this young man! the least you can do is tell from his voice! we are very sorry sir this will not happen again!" The thin man bowed down low to Katara apologizing quickly. "You look like a fine young man. Would you like to court Mistress Toph Mister...?" the thin man looked up from his bow to see Katara deeply blushing.

"Um… I Uh… I'm Uh… Amon! and I have Uh... other plans… actually." Katara responded in a manly tone of voice.

"What do you mean does she want to court me? She's a girl! if there were anyone who I wanted to date it would be one of those sexy water tribe boys!" Toph responded in a matter of factly tone.

"This is a boy Mistress Toph!"

"Oh yeah you want to check?" Toph smirked.

Yu blushed and averted Katara's gaze, "Mistress! how could you even suggest such a thing!"

"Fine I'll check!" Toph scoffed stomping straight up to Katara. Toph pushed six inches below the collarbone and stepped back. "Yup, definitely a woman." She jeered leaving both master Yu and Katara with dropped jaws. "Now let's go Master Gay." the girl snickered as the old man was following behind her babbling on about how he was interested in women not men and how telling 'that young man' back there that he was a she was rude. Toph proceeded to ask him about the bounty hunter that always visited him at night and Yu couldn't come up with an answer for her snotty remark so he just stayed quiet.

Katara stood still for a good 3 minutes before straightening up from her shlumped position, "Amon huh? I'm pretty good at this name thing!"

"You know Zuko, if Katara knew what you were doing to these innocent people she would be ashamed…" Ihro lectured. Zuko looked down at his feet like a child being scolded for having too much candy. They had been everything but killing the people they had run into for information on the Avatar. Suddenly as the two were talking a Messenger Hawk landed on Zuko's shoulder. "Speak of the Devil." Ihro cheerfully laughed changing the subject. When Katara's letters arrived everyone became cheerier because Zuko was cheerier.

Quickly Zuko pulled the letter out of the case on the Hawk's back and opened the letter to read. But to Zuko's Surprise this letter was not from Katara, but from Mai.

 _Dearest Zuko,_

 _I quite regret to inform you, but your dearest Katara has been exiled from the Fire Nation. on the act of treason. If I hadn't interfered with the execution she would be dead at this moment.. As for where she was exiled to I was not informed. if you wish to search for her she could have sent anywhere. But please do not let this interfere with your search for the Avatar. Be safe._

 _With Love,_

 _Mai_

Zuko didn't feel loved, he felt like that day Katara had trapped him in a block of ice as a prank. But worse, this time there was no laughing Katara, there was no physical cold. The Ice filled his entire being with a vast tundra of confused hopelessness. He looked up from the neatly scripted letter, the ice quickly giving way to a furnace of fury and determination, he would find them. Both the Avatar and Katara. Although the Avatar was high on his list but Katara was on his 'to do' list too. Ha! just kidding she was at the top of his to find list (and his 'to do' list but that's a different story for much later).

Zuko wasn't always so good at finding things, Katara was always finding Zuko's things for him.

"If you are looking for me this time Katara. Please find me…" Zuko whispered under his breath, so only the breeze could hear. "We are switching course! We will go back to The Earth Kingdom and search for something more valuable than the Avatar. Ihro slipped the letter from Zuko and read what it said then looked up at Zuko. Zuko was determined to find Katara and Ihro could see that in the way he looked. But Ihro also knew that Zuko was throwing away the Fire Nation for the sake of Katara.

"She must be very important to him" Ihro thought to himself while pouring a cup of Jasmine tea. At that moment Ihro caught a glimpse of Zuko place a hand over a small red pouch that hung over his heart.

Katara wandered the streets of Ba Sing Se, curious blue eyes drifting over the stalls of the city, wondering what she should do next. She paused and walked up to one shaded stall and asked in her feigned boyish voice what state the war was in, she got little news in the Fire Lord's palace. The man looked at her, politely puzzled and told her not to ask silly questions in a voice like sandpaper. Katara tilted her head at that, everyone she asked told her the same thing, and the feeling of unease that had been dismissed as she entered the city as nerves, rose up in a bubble of slick discomfort. That's when the stone hands flew out of nowhere and dragged the shocked girl into the shadows of the alleyway she stood in front of.

She woke up and stretched, the pleasant feeling of a good night's sleep still clung to her, Katara was glad for her brief vacation on lake laogi, her head was clear and she was finally able to make her way in Ba Sing Se. Of course, she needed to get home, her family was probably going to be worried about her. She had earned her keep well enough, she hoped her money was enough to carry her home. Back to the northern water tribe. She entertained herself with the image of her brother's face, shocked with his jaw hitting the ground, her mother would smile at her and ask about her trip. Katara brushed a stray lock of her short hair back and sighed, today was the day she would begin the journey home. She smiled into the golden sunbeam that stretched across her face, almost unaware of the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something.

Leaving the city had something of a release for Katara, and the journey home was, needless to say, exciting. The Northern water tribe awaited, and she was positively elated at the possibilities it held


End file.
